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UNKNOWNS
After discussing UNKNOWNS in your small groups, what is STILL unknown
during this transition?
001 why is Rikk not wearing his orange shirt?
002 general direction of company?????
003 Is there going to be friends and family stock? If so, what is
my cut?
004 timing
005 Michael’s net worth
006 What size/form will the new office spaces be?
007 if the adserver works 100% of the time
008 Can Scotty raise shields before the Klingons fire on us - being
in the neutral zone is an act of war....
Scotty?
Scotty!
SCOTTY!
***BLAM***
009 if biz dev will ever have any engineering resources
010 How long is it going to take to get into SF, find a place to park,
and walk into the building? During the day? At night? On weekends? In
the case of emergencies?
011 Will the environment i.e. dress code, schedules, change?
012 are we going to have brain taco in the new building
013 How eGroups is going to find a source of revenue other than advertising
to keep us afloat and please Wall St.
014 I know everything
015 where the profits are going to come from...
016 Are we going to make it?
017 how will this effect communication with the satellite offices?
018 whether we'll get cubes in the new space
019 will the revenue
020 recruiting
021 Can we get paintball guns and shoot the estaff silly?
022 if our IPO will be successful, or if we will actually pull out
023 Whether a BART pass is also included in the mix of relo benefits
024 How much will we have to pay for parking
Will it be more than 300 per month
025 how we are going to recruit the right talent to expand....
027 the revenue model work?
028 if we want to get acquired!!
029 Will Meg sing the rest of the song later when we are all about
to crash?
030 performance of our stock
031 the color of the logo on my business card
032 profitability
033 What am I supposed to do if there is an earthquake?
I don't want to be in a freakin' 20-40 story building when
the Big One squishes us.
034 How are we going to diversify our revenue plan? When are we going
to see the numbers?
035 how many people will leave because of this?
036 click rate improvements?
037 We'd like to know the reasons behind the generous bonus of 50%
options the executive staff received right before the announcement of the
S1, plus why the staff as a whole didn't receive such a bonus.
Also, why the executive staff was given loans to cover the
purchase of their options, while the staff at large was not given the same
generous offering, particularly since they would have benefited the most
from them.
038 will we ever educate the customer on how to actually use all of
the eGroups tools?
039 How will departments interact with one another--share ideas/communicate,
be in touch w/ what's going on on a regular basis? Specifically, how will
the new building affect these relationships?
040 I wonder where the bathrooms are... No, I mean here in the Presidio...
041 are we ever going to make money as a company
042 Offices or cubes in the new place? Workbenches or desks?
043 how much are we paying for this therapy session today?
044 will we be able to go public?
if we do, what are we going to do with the money?
could we end up like some of the ecommerce companies, running
out of money?
045 Can we get lawn chairs to sunbathe in the patio?
046 What is the decor of the new building.. will it be startupee?
047 scalability
048 How in hell do you get this stupid iBook to make a question mark
049 how much we'll grow
050 will I be rich?
051 Can we get gas masks to wear while we sunbathe on the patio?
052 if we will gain brand exposure across the US. Will anyone know
who we are AND what we do
053 will advertising remain our chief revenue stream ? ? ?
054 You are making a big deal over this "transition". Get over it.
055 How will the culture of the company change by having us all under
one roof in the city?
056 The Stock Price!
057 what’s for lunch?
058 when will I retire to Puerto Rico?
059 Who does what?
Who's responsible for what?
Org chart, anyone?
060 how many friends and family shares our friends and family will
actually get
061 Is there a growth cap on us? Meaning...is there a # that we want
to get to as far as personnel before we feel complete?
062 PARKING, PARKING, PARKING!!!!!!!!
063 what is the likelihood of another big merger or acquisition?
064 will we increase our click thru rates to be profitable
065 what cool amenities will we get in the new building? i.e. wet
bar, Jacuzzi, pool table
will an org chart ever be made available to the rest of the
company
how many options did we give our new landlord
will we be given parking reimbursement
will David Jeske ever be given a vacation
066 Will we ever monetize PORN?
067 When is Jacqueline going to model Rikk's orange shirt?
068 IPO Date?
069 Will the Senior Management team ever stop diving into all the
details of our business and start trusting employees closer to the data
stop micro managing
070 will our ad server be incredibly competitive
071 Does this management team know what they are doing -- can we build
a successful business?
Are we every going to make any money?
Will I ever feel valued as an eGroups employee?
Why should I stay here?
What is the culture of the new "eGroups"?
072 What happens if I press Ctrl-Alt.... NO CARRIER.
073 where we're going to find good people to hire
074 will I be rich when we go public?
075 How are we going to make $$$$?
How many South Bay people will we lose who don't want to commute
to the CITY?
Will we be able to have dogs?
How are we going to attract & retain people once we IPO?
*Hint: buy cash-starved dot-coms...
076 will all departments communicate and agree regularly
077 Will we have access to cultural events in the city, given our
proximity to all of what's happening? (i.e. tickets to games, etc.)
078 why 20 people in a room still can't make a decision
079 as we grow, how can we continue to keep up the company communication
so everybody knows where eGroups is going?
080 authority
081 How will internal communications be improved in the future (question
mark).
082 will we ever have to do this again?
will we ever be granted the leisure of European vacations
when do we open the Hawaiian office and can I staff it
083 As we get larger, what changes do you see happening to the company’s
culture?
084 will we move at a faster speed to compete with the market
085 Will this deal fall through as well? We thought RWC was done?
If the market continues to drop will we pull our offering?
How are we going to recruit people to SF?
Can we have Herman Miller furniture in the new space? The
new Resolve line is just fabu. :)
086 when will we have a system where consideration of customer wants/responses
facilitates change?
087 how else are we going to generate revenue other than ad sales?
088 How much will our stock be worth
089 Will all the floors of the new building be architected the same,
or will there be themes between different areas/floors?
090 editorial policies, what to do with hate groups, should they be
on our service
091 Who on our exec staff has a vision for our business?
092 is the ad server ever going to work?
093 WHY IS THE MOVE A BIG DEAL
094 will we have another revenue stream?
095 Are there aliens
096 if (stockPrice * myShares) > kLotsOfMoney:
car = Car.Car('Porsche')
else:
car = currentCar
097 The future direction of the company (major goals) in six month
increments.
What are the retention and recruiting implications of the
merger, move, and 1 year cliff......
098 Can we get a fire pole to go between floors?
099 ...and this one time, at band camp
100 Will we ever add new features?
101 What is the projected growth of our customer base in the next
6 mo., 12 mo. (question mark).
102 When are we going to get some new engineers?
103 how can we get enough engineers to do what we need to do? we
don't have enough now and we will have more trouble hiring in SF.
104 where exactly is 555 market?
105 with the recent tanking of the NASDAQ, does that affect our IPO/pricing/stock
prospects?
My yacht broker *(and I) want to know!
106 when will employees be trusted to "get shit done" without incredible
amounts of estaff approval
107 Will we ever try to be anything other than just another boring
consumer web site? Any NEW ideas?
108 Fair & equal compensation anyone?
Timely reviews?
109 Will the company find us apartments in SF?
110 Can we sell something other than ad space? We should be more
than just another ad agency.
111 Does anyone have a vision for this company?
112 GROUPS@aol
113 I wonder if they'll catch me stealing this iMac out of here.
114 What will our relationship with our International offices be?
Will we expand to the point where these business will behave more independently?
115 what is our 6 mo. vision???
116 acquiring vs. a buy out?
what's beyond our "ad-supported site" business model?
what's are budget? spending plans?
117 How much will the org chart change. Will there be more levels
put between me and the Exec team.
118 what is our marketing strategy???
119 how will I beat the line at IKEA?
120 Did Scott Adams put you up to this?
When do we get the graham crackers and orange juice?
121 Do we get to take the iBooks home?
eGroups place in the market/where we stand against our changing
competition
what will the market conditions be when we IPO?
122 is Jamie Keegan still a pimp if ecommerce doesn't work the street
anymore?
123 Are these things really anonymous when we're preassigned to teams
on machines with IPs?
124 Will the tech writers get window cubes so we can use natural light
to read the piles of documents we create?
125 Will the "crisis mode" way of working ever end?
126 Most of the new hires in old eGroups got far lower
number of options than offered in industry. We should change
this NOW !!
127 how come the eStaff micro manages most things, yet most things
end up problematic
128 yeah, what about those executive options/bonuses?
129 what about a snap.com
130 will we move fast enough to compete *rather lead* and not follow
131 How does sr. management want to be viewed/perceived by employees
and outside parties as the company moves forward?
132 why do we need to go back to kindergarten to move forward with
business?
133 why don't we offer 50% stock bonuses to people who need to relocate?
134 Is the exec staff biased to selling the company, so that they
can accelerate their vesting
135 can we implement other revenue ops?
136 will we diversify our revenue model?
137 will the "adult games" this afternoon involve e-groping?
138 Is it true that regular members have the same accessibility to
stock purchase the employees? Are we really all going to have to go through
the DLJ internet account plan...first come first serve?
139 new rev streams????
140 More stock
141 why does jack wu give such poor directions?
142 Why is ecommerce a dirty word in this company?
143 Can the whole company move at Internet speed,
144 why do birds .... suddenly appear, every time, you are near?
just like me ... they long to be ... far from here..
145 how many advertisers have resigned for big dollars?
146 The question mark is up on top...written over the - sign. Just
here to help.
147 our sales staff is doing great selling, can we just improve our
technology and get them return clients
148 Do you feel the sr. management team is currently working as a
true team (in synch)? -- it seems that the current climate for making decisions
is reactive rather than proactive. When do you think this will change?
149 Will the whole company please move at Internet speed?
150 what about a taxonomy model similar to snap.com where you have
a pure taxonomy that has been QA-d and a general catch all taxonomy
151 Will the click throughs improve?
152 why the people who actually do the work shouldn't abandon the
estaff and their options
153 Why do birds, suddenly appear?
every time, you walk by ...
just like me, they long to be,
far from here...
154 how do I get on the eStaff?
155 Will the current organization (e.g. departmental org charts) stay
constant or do you anticipate changes? If so, what are they?
156 Why are we not advertising more to the trade and consumer?
157 Will we have as many meetings when we move? I was only hired
to attend meetings...at least that is what I think.
158 Seconding why execs get promissory notes and we do not.
159 what does one need to do to get more options before going IPO?
160 We know what we're doing, really?
161 Why doesn't the exec staff convey what our future
plans/directions are ? We can't live off of ads forever and
auctions don't make money :)
162 Oh I wonder, wonder, wonder wonder who... who wrote the book
of love? Chapter one says you love her, love her with all your heart, and
chapter two you tell her, you're never ever gonna part, in Chapter three
remember the meaning of romance... In chapter four you breakup, but you
give her just one more chance...
163 on the day this group was born the angels got together and decided
to create an offsite come true ... so they sprinkled iMacs in the room and
got some cheesy hats...
164 How many people hit their cliff in the next 4 months?
Why don't we pay our customer support team more? They're
the ones who interact directly with our members....
Why did the exec staff wait 6 months to address "merger transition"
issues?
165 why are all the X?*&%& shirts large and xl - do you think
all of the girls are overweight?
166 Welcome to All Hands
I woke up at nine o clock
Psychotherapy
167 will I ever get a vacation
168 I wonder if the DJ tonight can play Pat Matheny's song...
169 Imagine all of eGroups .... I wonder if you can
nothing to kill or Twist for ...
a brotherhood of workers
Imagine all the options...
going to execs...
You may say, I'm disgruntled
but I’m not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
and the company can be as one...
170 Do we have commitment to actually do Marketing here it sure seems
like you want results, but tie our hands
171 Will the Sumo Wrestler dance with Klein?
172 ha ha we got a break and you didn't!
173 How will the org chart change? Will more levels be put in place
between the Executive Staff and me.
174 Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
175 What is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me... no more...
177 And you killed bad attitude?
178 The flag or morale is flying at full staff today...
179 I’ve been given the run-around - led to believe that only I, and
perhaps some friends, are unhappy.
Morale is in the toilet.
180 how can I surf the web on this thing?
181 will we ever get to see Rikk’s fluorescent underwear?
182 if we are using iMacs and engaging in group bitching, does that
make us iGrumps?
183 will post 37 be addressed?
184 Does anyone really think this computer stunt is going to change
things?
185 If this is not anonymous, will we be fired in the morning?
186 ONElist people got many more options than eGroups people - can
we fix this NOW? It should have been fixed in October but was not a priority.
Will it be a priority BEFORE the IPO so that it has a chance in hell of being
fixed?
I think the answer is no, because the exec staff´s attitude
is unlikely to change. Show us that it will, and we might stay.
187 with all the negative energy in the room, are the armed guards
far off?
188 HAKUNA MATATA .. it's a wonderful, philosophy, HAKUNA MATATA
189 is post 37 the reason why there were only two s1's for loan
190 ONElist people didn't get more options -- we got a better valuation.
Stop whining.
191 Will we ever stop resting our laurels on "viral growth" and start
doing some REAL quality marketing?
192 Why won't you answer #37?
193 int strlen(char *s){return((s&&*s)?1+strlen(s+1):0);}
The following notes were taken during group discussion:
Themes in "Unknowns"
------------------------------------
• Vision, future direction, revenue model
• IPO ...
• E-staff management
• Culture
• Recruiting
• Compensation structures